


Scared Injured King

by Huntress8611



Series: An Odd Friendship [4]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Fear, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Phobia, Phobias
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9332444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress8611/pseuds/Huntress8611





	

Oreius was practicing archery when a little bird flew up to him. He stopped, and the bird began to deliver a message, "High King Peter has injured himself and is trying to escape the medical wing. They said he could leave if someone would agree to treat his wounds, and his siblings are out. He said to ask you."

'Of course he did,' thought Oreius, sighing. "Alright, you may go back to whatever you were doing before," said Oreius. 

When he arrived at the hospital wing, he opened the door just in time to see Peter attempting to climb out the window. "Lion's mane, Peter! What are you doing?" Peter climbed back into the window and walked over to Oreius. 

"Hello. Will you please get me out of here?" asked Peter. Oreius looked at Peter and noticed that though he was trying to appear relaxed, he was tensed and his eyes were searching the room for an exit. The only word he could think to describe the behavior was  _afraid_. 

"Alright, but you have to let me treat your injuries," sighed Oreius, bending down. "You aren't walking, though. Get on." Peter climbed on, and Oreius went to Peter's room. He bent down so Peter could climb off, and then picked him up and dumped him on the bed. 

"Okay, explain how you managed to hurt yourself," said Oreius.

"Rock climbing," muttered Peter, "I fell. My left arm's dislocated and I scraped up my back."

"That doesn't sound fun. Okay, shirt off," said Oreius.

"How?" asked Peter, " _I dislocated my arm_." Oreius took a knife, cut the shirt, and pulled it off of Peter. 

"Sit up, Peter. I need to fix your arm," instructed Oreius. Peter sat up slowly, clutching his arm to his chest. "I need your arm," said Oreius, sighing. Peter tensed up and got a conflicted look on his face, watching Oreius as if he was going to try and wrestle his arm away from him.

"I'm not going to grab your arm, I'll wait for you to give it to me, but the longer you wait the harder it is to fix," said Oreius.

After a moment, Peter slowly extended his arm towards Oreius, wincing as it moved, eyes still glued to the centaur. Oreius gently grabbed Peter's wrist, causing him to flinch a little. When he moved behind Peter and put a hand on his dislocated shoulder, he felt every muscle in the boy's body tense up so much he trembled. 

He shifted his hand to Peter's good shoulder, massaging circles into the tensed muscles. "Relax, Peter. I promise I won't surprise you, but tensing up makes it worse," said Oreius. He moved his hands back to the dislocated shoulder once Peter was relaxed. "Tell me when you're ready," he said. 

"Do it," he whispered, closing his eyes. Oreius shifted his hands into the correct position.

"One, two, three," he said, popping the joint back in on three, prompting a huge flinch and a yelp from Peter. The centaur told Peter to lay on his stomach so he could fix his back. Peter laid down and rolled over onto his stomach, hugging his pillow. 

Oreius grabbed the disinfectant and said, "I'm going to clean out the cut. It looks pretty nasty."

The centaur placed one hand on Peter's right shoulder to keep him still and poured the liquid into the gash. Peter whimpered, burying his face in the pillow as Oreius gently cleaned out the wound. Oreius moved one of his hands up to Peter's head and ran his fingers through his hair until his breathing evened out again. 

"Stitches next," warned Oreius before quickly closing the gash. He then assisted Peter in sitting up before wrapping up the stitched wound with bandages. Peter then laid down and drifted off to sleep. 

A few hours later, Susan got back and decided to check on Peter. She noticed that he had been hurt and went to the medical wing to ask who helped him. The staff told her, "He had refused to let us treat him, and we told him that unless someone else volunteered, he had to stay until he let us fix it. He told us to send a message to General Oreius, who then left with your brother and a first aid kit."   
Susan walked down to Oreius' room and knocked on the door.

When he opened it, she asked, "What happened to Peter?"

"Come in," said Oreius, shutting the door behind her, "He dislocated his arm and had a nasty gash on his back. He said he fell when he was rock climbing." 

"Okay," said Susan, "but how did you get him to let you treat him?"

"What do you mean?" asked Oreius, confused.

"Are you telling me that he didn't give you  _any_ trouble?" asked Susan, baffled.

"Why would you think that?" asked Oreius curiously.

"You may very well be a miracle worker. Peter has been terrified of any and all medical procedures since he was  _three_. He must trust you more than you know," said Susan, who then left to go to bed. 

Oreius thought about what she had just told him. It definitely explained why he seemed scared in the medical wing and how reluctant he was to give Oreius his arm. He wished that Peter had told him, though, he would have been more patient. 

The next morning, Oreius went up to Peter's room to change the bandage on his back. "Wake up, Peter," he said, setting his hand on the boy's shoulder. Peter woke up to see Oreius hovering over him.

"What now, Oreius?" asked Peter, yawning.

"I have to change the bandage on your back," said Oreius. He quickly swapped the bandages. 

"Peter, why didn't you just tell me why you wanted to leave the medical wing in the first place?" asked Oreius.

"Susan?" asked Peter.

Oreius nodded, "Susan. She went on a hunt to try and figure out who was able to treat your injuries without ending up injured themselves." 

"Of course she did," sighed Peter, "she's Susan."

"Can I ask why I was your first thought after your siblings?" questioned Oreius.

"Because, Oreius," said Peter, as if it was obvious, "I trust you. You're my best friend."

"I wish you had told me sooner, I wouldn't have sent you there every time you got hurt," said Oreius.

"Stop blaming yourself, Oreius," sighed Peter, "It's not your fault." 

"Peter?" asked Oreius.

"Yeah?"

"What makes your siblings and I different from the nurses?" asked the centaur.

"They only care about speed and efficiency. They're better than the doctors in England, but they don't really care about the comfort of the patient," explained Peter. 

"What do you mean?" wondered Oreius.

"Well, that's part of the reason I kept waiting for you to surprise me or grab my arm. You told me it would be worse if I waited, but you didn't just make the judgment call and pop my shoulder back in, you gave me a choice. You also didn't surprise me. I never got a chance to thank you for being patient," said Peter. 

"You’re welcome, Peter. Now it's time for you to go back to sleep," Oreius said softly, pushing Peter gently back down into a lying position. He settled next to Peter's bed and ran his fingers through Peter's hair until the boy fell asleep, falling asleep himself soon after.


End file.
